Marry Me Butter Beans
7 months ago
Showing posts with label vegetarian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegetarian. Show all posts
The King of Condiments: Dethroned!
Last year I was a preserving MACHINE. This year I'm nearly 7 months pregnant so that does take the wind out of my sails a bit... However, one recipe that I concocted last year with great success and that I will certainly be making again this year is Fruit Ketchup. It's somewhat of a home cooking staple here in Quebec and I'm not quite sure if the rest of the world might be familiar with it. To describe it a bit more (well, fruit ketchup kind of describes itself to a certain extent) it's sweet and tangy with a bit of a pickle edge. It's a condiment that goes great on hot dogs, hamburgers, meat-loaf, a regional speciality here in Quebec called Tourtière and many more things I'm sure...
Ketchup aux fruits
• 12 plum tomatoes chopped (about 8 cups)
• 1 bunch of rhubarb diced (about 4 cups)
• 1 red pepper, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 apples, peeled & chopped (about 2 cups)
• 2 pears peeled & chopped (about 2 cups)
• 2 pints of strawberries (about 3 cups)
• 4 peaches peeled & chopped (about 3 cups)
(you can vary the fruit a bit, but it's best to keep the ratio similar)
• 2 onions minced (about 3 cups)
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pickling spices:
here's my homemade mix for this recipe:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp juniper berries
1 tsp dill seed
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 bay leaves
a few pieces cinnamon sticks
1 tsp coriander seeds
Put all of the chopped fruit and vegetables, cider vinegar and brown sugar into a large pot with a thick bottom. Tie pickling spices into a little bundle with a piece of cheesecloth and add to pot.
Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, then simmer on medium-low, stirring intermittently for about two to three hours. Ingredients will release juice at first and then start to reduce. Once it has reduced by half to two thirds and the desired consistency has been reach, remove from heat and let cool.
Using a jar funnel, pour fruit ketchup into sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/4" head space. Skim any foam from the top with a non metallic utensil. Wipe any spills the edges of rim with clean paper towel, apply heated sealing disk pressing the centre and then screw the meal band on - fingertip tight.
Process in hot water bath for 20 minutes and let water cool 5-10 minutes before removing to a quiet place to cool undisturbed. Let cool overnight and check seals before storing in a cool dark place. Use within six months to a year.
Makes enough to fill a good 5 x 500ml (mason style) jars or about 10 x 250ml (jam style) jars.
"Blessed relief for Mother and the other women in the household!"- Heinz slogan when it introduced its commercial version of ketchup in 1876.
Happy New Year! Bonne Année!
The holiday madness is finally winding down and life is quickly getting back to the normal daily routine. It was a very busy December for me because along with my normal pre-Christmas baking routine of cookies, granola and caramel popcorn I was busily hand-making gifts for people this year - which is a fun, inexpensive and really thoughtful way to go about gift giving, especially when you can find the time. So as I am working from home these days, I made the time to get crafty and now before I know it, the holiday season has come and gone!
So here we are a whole new year imbibed with that feeling that life is full of possibilities, but perhaps we are also feeling a bit overfilled of food from all that holiday eating. That brings me to one of my favourite recipes: my home made granola. I like to give this granola out during the holidays to those people who I know will appreciate it because after the overindulging season is done and everyone's making New Year's resolutions (many of which include "get fit" aspirations) this home made granola is a great start to any morning, and especially to an active day. I've had some people exclaim that they think it's not worth the bother to make granola at home, but I tell them that this way I am sure of every quality ingredient that goes in it (I have some nut allergies, so I can also be sure of not having any allergic reactions) and I am know that it is low fat, with no preservatives. It's also a less expensive alternative by at least 30%-50% depending on what ingredients you use, so when you're on a budget and every cent counts this granola is a smart and healthy alternative.
Marion's Naturally Sweetened Organic Granola
before
• 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (un-roasted, but pre-roasted options are also be available from some brands such as Milanaise)
the mix
• 4 1/2 cups "extra thick" organic rolled oats (I love "Bob's Red Mill")
• 1/2 cup unsalted organic pumpkin seeds
• 3/4 cup whole unsalted roasted almonds, coarsely chopped (or raw almonds if you like, it's a question of preference. I find that pre-roasted (but no salted!) almonds have more flavour and taste slightly smoky...)
• 1/4 cup ground organic flax seed meal
• 1/2 cup organic sunflower seeds
• (optional) 1/4 to 1/2 cup of any other seeds or nuts you may wish to add
the coating
• 1 cup organic apple cider
• 1/3 cup real maple syrup
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp premium unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp coarse sea-salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Heat oven to 300°. Place coconut on parchment or silicon-mat lined cookie sheet, and toast until light golden, about 3-5 minutes. WATCH THEM. If you're not careful they'll burn before you know it.
(alternatively, if you can find them pre toasted from a brands such as Milanaise you can skip this whole step) Once toasted, remove from oven an set aside to cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 200°.
In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, chopped almonds, ground flax seeds, and sunflower seeds.
In a small saucepan boil cider reducing the liquid to about 1/2 cup, somewhere from 6-8 minutes. Meanwhile, combine maple syrup, canola oil, and vanilla extract in a measuring cup, as well as cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, cocoa powder in a seperate small bowl. Add wet mix to the cider, stir well and then dry mix to reduced juice and mix until all combined. Remove from heat and pour liquid over oat mixture. Mix until evenly coated.
Divide the coated oat mixture between cookie sheets on parchment/silicon mat and bake about 45-55 minutes at about 200F, stirring every 15-20 minutes. If using silicon mats you may want to raise the temperature ever so slightly or increase the cooking time because they brown the granola slower. (Also, if you double the recipe as I often do, be sure to switch cookie sheets every time you stir to ensure even cooking). The goal is to have the oat mix loose humidity and crisp up slowly without browning too much. Once golden and crispy remove from oven and let cool.
Once thoroughly cool, add toasted coconut and any other ingredients such as dried fruit you may wish to add (or such things can be added when serving granola too).
Store in an airtight container and consume within 2-3 weeks.
I like to eat my granola like this: I add a sprinkling of hemp and chia seeds, and an assortment of dried or fresh fruit + a good dollop of organic yogurt and a small spoonful of jam for extra sweetness!
MAKES 6-7 CUPS
"If wishes and buts were clusters of nuts, we'd all have a bowl of granola."
- (from the tv series) Strangers with Candy
There's more than one way to skin a... banana.
I've been closing in on the tail end of a cold and find myself craving still more comfort food (they DO to say feed a cold you know...). So when I stumbled across a sad brown banana going to waste in the fruit bowl, as well as a couple frozen ones in the freezer AND a tub of yogurt about to go off, I decided to devise a recipe to create a healthy, moist banana bread that would incorporate them all.
I must say I am pleased with the results. :)
Banana Bread (with yogurt and other good stuff)• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 2/3 cup brown or raw sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3)
• 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain organic yogurt
• 1 1/2 cups flour (You could use a mix if you like. I used 1 cup organic spelt, 1/2 cup unbleached organic)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
optional:
• 1 cup chopped walnuts / 1 cup chocolate chips (or half a cup of each!)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar (you may be tempted, but try not to eat it...) and add eggs, beating well.
Mash the bananas, then add them along with vanilla and yogurt and stir until well blended.
Incorporate dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then add wet mixture and stir until incorporated. Stir in nuts or chocolate chips if you like.
Pour into appropriate sized pan*: 1 large buttered loaf pan
(a 5" x 9" or a 4" x 11", or two mini ones) or 12 very full muffin tins (wouldn't it be funny if they made a baker's dozen muffin pan?).
*I have decided that I am REALLY not a fan of glass loaf pans. I personally think it's best to avoid them because for me they have never yielded good results when making banana bread. If you must use one try decreasing the temperature by 25 degrees and increasing the cooking time by 10-15 minutes.
Bake approximately 1 hour on the middle rack (out of 4 racks chose the 2nd one down) in oven, until you can insert a skewer and it comes out clean. Bake 20-25 minutes for muffins. Let cool, remove from pan (run a knife along the edges) and serve.
"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."
- Groucho Marx
In a Pickle? Beet the Odds...
I'm currently unemployed (although I am working a bit of freelance where and when I can!) and since money's a bit tight and now that it's fall, I'm trying to both take advantage of the bountiful harvest and improve my canning skills. Apart from the great deals at the farmer markets I'm also taking advantage of the "quick sale" deals at my local "fruiterie". So when I saw a bunch of big packets of yellow beets for 99¢ I thought: Why not try my hand at pickling some beets?
However, as I was going through this recipe I released that these quick sale deals don't always work out perfectly... I've usually had great success finding ingredients for jams (see my plum-raspberry jam) this time the beets were a bit hit and miss, and I had to discard some, but I still had enough for 3 jars and I quickly made some pickled carrots with the leftover brine! YUM.
Pickled Beets
• 2.5-3 lbs small-medium beets
brine:
• 1 3/4 cups vinegar (min 5% acidic)
- I used 1 1/4 organic cider vinegar and 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 cups filtered water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
spice mix:
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 10 cloves
• 1/2 tsp juniper berries
• 1/2 tsp dill seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 1-2 small pieces cinnamon stick
Remove greens from beets leaving roots and stems and give them a good quick scrub with a brush but do not peel them (they'll bleed out their colour in the boiling water if you do). Put beets in pot of water, add a splash of vinegar, bring to boil and simmer on medium 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, drain and pop beets into a bath of cold water for 5-10 minutes. Once they've cooled sufficiently to handle them they should peel really easily. Thicker skins should peel off by hand or thin skins can be easily removed with a carrot peeler. Once all skin and rough spots have been removed rinse and cut into wedges. I cut medium ones into six pieces and smaller ones in four.
Pack them into sterilized jars leaving about a good half an inch head space.
Put all the brine ingredients into a pot with the spices and bring the pickling brine to a boil and then simmer gently (med-low) while covered, for about 15 minutes.
Using a jar funnel, pour brine (while straining out spices with a sieve) into the canning jars and fill to almost the top, leaving 1/4" head space. I let a few mustard and dill seed get in because I thought it looked nice. Wipe the edges of rim with clean paper towel, apply heated sealing disk pressing the centre and then screw the meal band on - fingertip tight.
Process in hot water bath for 30 minutes and let water cool 5-10 minutes before removing to a quiet place to cool undisturbed. Let cool overnight and check seals before storing in a cool dark place. Use within one year.
Makes about 5 x 500ml jars.
"First rule in roadside beet sales, put the most attractive beets on top.
The ones that make you pull the car over and go “Wow, I need this beet right NOW”.
Those are the Money Beets." - Dwight Shrute "The Office"
Jam It on the One!
While I am not necessarily new to making jam I am sort of new to the domestic ritual of preserving. It's a fun and inexpensive way to fill your pantry with jars of tasty edibles that you'll get to appreciate all winter long.
For many years I have been making what I call "fridge jam" which is a jam I make when I have a bunch of fruit that has been hanging around too long or just starting to turn. I just chop whatever I have and throw it into a pot, add a little less than half the volume in sugar and the juice of half a lemon and then boil down and put in a jar in the fridge - voila! Instant fridge jam. It's fun to experiment with different combinations and it's a difficult thing to mess up really...
Last year however, I got my hands on a canning kit, bought some jars, did a bit of research and off I went making real jam and other preserves.
So, my parent's have a gigantic elderberry bush in their suburban yard. It produces more berries than we can use really, but they aren't the easiest berry to work with because they are full of tiny seeds. For years I've made elderberry freezer jam, leaving the seeds in because they are quite small anyway and they do add an interesting texture, but having tired I decided that this year I'd try my hand at make some elderberry jelly. After some research and the cross-referencing of a few recipes I think I've come up with a pretty good one. Keep in mind if you feel like experimenting I think that this jelly recipe could work for grapes and maybe some other fruit or berries.
(you'll want to be sure wear an apron when working with elderberries because their dark juice stain fabric easily!)
• about 5 lbs elderberries, washed, de-stemmed with a fork and rinsed again
• 1 cup filtered water
Put elderberries and water in large heavy bottomed pot and bring to boil stirring intermittently - boil about 15 minutes, or until the berries release their juices and start to break down. Remove from heat and once cooled a bit, squash or mash them with a potato masher or some other appropriate untensil. Let cool and pass* through fine strainer or larger one lined with fine cloth or a few layers of cheesecloth reserving the juice. Allow to drain overnight.
*Some recipes I read said not to mash the fruit or squeeze your strainer too much for it will result in cloudy jelly, but this doesn't really concern me. I let the fine pulp pass through the sieve, which added nice texture - I only concerned myself with not letting seeds or skin pass through.
• add 1 1/2 cups apple cider
(which should make about 7-8 cups liquid - it is a good idea to check the volume before proceeding to the next step)
• add juice of one lemon
• and 5 cups sugar*
*I couldn't get myself to add more sugar even though many recipes call for a 1:1 ratio, hoping the apple juice sweetness and natural pectin would help the jellying process. For this recipe I think the ratio I chose works quite well, but after making various jellies I think that a ratio 1 cup juice to 3/4 cups sugar is a good ratio to keep in mind as a rule.
Heat on medium until sugar begins to dissolve and then increase heat (medium-high) and bring to boil, stirring frequently, until it reaches 220˚F on a candy thermometre* (about 10 minutes), boil another 15-20 minutes, until it passes the jelly test.
*If you don't have a candy thermometre it's okay. The boiling point where it starts to thicken can be your 220˚F mark and then the jelly test will assure you that it's thick enough to jar.
Using a jar funnel, ladle jelly into your sterilized jars and fill to almost the top leaving about 1/4" head space. Using a nonmetallic utensil, remove any air bubbles. Wipe any spills on the edges of rim with clean paper towel, apply heated/sterilized sealing disk, pressing the centre of disk with your finger and then screw the meal bands on - fingertip tight.
Process in hot water bath for 10 minutes and let water cool 5-10 minutes before removing from the pot to a quiet place to cool undisturbed. Let cool overnight and check seals and tighten rims before storing in a cool dark place. Use within one year.
Makes 4 x 250ml jars plus bonus 1 x 125ml to jar or eat now.
and now a...
Bonus recipe!
I like to peruse the local "fruiterie" from time to time to check out what "quick sale" packages they have to choose from. These items are very borderline in their ripeness and need to be consumed quite quickly, but they are a great deal money-wise and make ideal candidates for jam making. Here's one of my recent "fruit sale" combos that I whipped up to jar that I'm very happy with.
The plums were 99¢ and the raspberries $1.49. I figured I made 3+ jars of jam for about $4 total! Not bad.
Plum-Raspberry Jam
• 6 large plums, washed, diced and pitted with skin on
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 package of raspberries (6oz) roughly chopped.
Put all the ingredients in a medium sized heavy bottomed pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer until thickened, stirring intermittently (about 15-20 minutes). Allow to cool slightly and then jar and process!
Makes 3 x 250ml jars plus bonus 1 x 125ml to jar or eat now.
"Times were so tough, but not as tough as they are now,
We were so close and nothing came between us - and the world"
- The Jam
Patati, Patata, Frittati, Fritatta!
I realized that I had a bunch of new potatoes in the fridge, becoming not-so-new anymore, so I decided that it would be "Frittata Night".
Call it Tortilla de patatas, Spanish omelette, Frittata or Potato Omelette as I did growing up, this is an essential comfort food for me, and I've been making my own version of it for so long now, that it's a bit of a challenge to put it into words...
This simple dish can be served right away, but is often traditionally served after cooling at room temperature. It is one of the most common tapas in Spain and is always made up of potatoes and eggs but other fillings vary by region. I prefer peppers, garlic and sometimes chorizo make a fun addition. Any leftovers should be refrigerated however, and what great leftovers this makes, best either served cold, warm or reheated.
Spanish Omelette
• 2 1/2 - 3 lbs waxy new potatoes (or any white potato works fine I just wouldn't recommend red ones because they sort of break down during frying, but can be used in a pinch. Sweet potato is a fun variation as well but burns easily while frying so you might want to reduce the heat a bit)
• 1-2 peppers of you choosing (I used one red pepper & 1 poblano pepper - careful when slicing hot peppers, using gloves is good idea because that hot pepper gets everywhere!) washed & slice the peppers length-wise into short pieces
• 2-3 garlic cloves to taste, chopped
• 10-12 free range eggs
Wash potatoes and peel them unless your using new potatoes, then you can leave the skin on. Slice them in half and then cut crosswise in 1/4-1/2" thick half moons. Rinse them again under cold water and then pour them into a clean dish towel and dry. Drying them helps them brown better in the pan.
Heat about 3 tbsp of oil on medium high in a large non-stick pan. Add the chopped potatoes. If you're impatient like I often am when I make this dish, you can put a lid on for the first 5-10 minutes or so, stirring the potatoes from time to time until it heats up and starts cooking through, once the potatoes start to get half translucent remove the lid so they start to fry & brown. Fry until cooked through and browned about 25-30 minutes.
Add peppers and garlic and cook until lightly browned (about 10 minutes more) reduce heat to medium and then season with a generous pinch of sea salt, freshly ground pepper and Piment d'Espelette*.
Break eggs into a large bowl and whisk well. Fold potato and pepper mixture into the beaten eggs and after checking that the pan still has an oily coating (if not add a little bit and spread to cover) pour the whole mixture back into the pan, arranging the potatoes and pepper to cover evenly. Cover and cook until set (about 10 minutes and then flip using the lid and cook another 5 minutes, just to brown the other side. Remove from heat, slice into wedges and serve!
*A note on Piment d'Espelette:
Piment d'Espelette is a variety of chili pepper which originates from the Basque country, more specifically the Espelette region of France.
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It is a medium hot pepper that that is more flavourful than chili pepper. It is a staple in Basque cuisine and used often in place of ground pepper. Piment d'Espelette is AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) and therefore only traditionally recognized as from that region, but it's immense popularity in powder form world-wide has increased it's popularity so much that I was surprised to find some "Piment d'Espelette" plants for sale this spring in a nursery! You will see me using it from time to time in my recipes, especially in traditional Basque dishes. My family loves their Piment d'Espelette and we have been growing it for a few years now, and happily try to find new uses for it apart from the drying and ground it into powder. If you like 'spicy' and are looking to try something new I encourage you to look for it in your local speciality grocery store and give it a try.
“Omelettes are not made without breaking eggs”
- Maximilien Francois Robespierre
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